To the rest of the world, 1st February ushers in a month of love. To Ugandan music lovers, 1st February is a sore reminder of the passing of one of the strongest pillars the Uganda music industry has ever had.
The legend of Mowzey Radio has been told, untold, and retold. He was exceptionally talented not only as a vocalist but also as a lyricist who dazzled the masses with his philosophy and melodies.
It has now been four years since the crooner breathed his last and in commemoration of a life well-lived, Matooke Republic looks back to the times the singer elevated Ugandan music to the international market.
Music videos
Alongside his singing associate Weasel, Radio elevated the quality and aura of Ugandan music videos by the standard of music videos they were putting on the market.
By the time they were enlisted for the BET Award gong in 2013, they had ousted top-notch music videos with both local and international directors such as Tough Sunday.
Such continentally stellar videos included Fantastic, Talk, and Talk, can’t let you go which were a cocktail of efforts from both local and international directors.
Award nominations and records
Radio and Weasel were the first East African musical act to be nominated for the internationally prestigious BET Awards.
The nomination was attributed to the stellar standards of the work the duo was putting out at the time. The nomination set the Ugandan music industry apart from the rest of its East African counterparts thanks to the efforts of the Goodlyfe.
Collaborations
Radio was exceptional and it manifested in the quality of collaborations he used to attract. He attracted the star power of stars both locally, regionally, continentally, and internationally.
When Wizkid came for an all-exclusive concert in Uganda, he collaborated with Radio. He went on to do a number of collaborations with Africa’s biggest superstar of the moment.
The magnitude of collaborations Radio collaborated on alone set the Ugandan music industry apart.
International Representation
Radio’s craft was exceptional, that time and again, he got invited to musically represent Uganda on a number of platforms. These included Coke Studio, shows all over the continent, his BET Award nomination as well as interviews on International Platforms such as Voice of America.
Uplifting fellow artistes on the local scene
Radio uplifted fellow artistes on the local scene to international levels with an outstanding example being Keko. One of Keko’s biggest tracks up to date is “Howe we do it” a song whose chorus was done by Radio.
Keko later teamed up with Goodlyfe to do a smash remix for the song, getting the track the prestigious Channel O award.
Radio went on to work magic with thousands of other artists on the scene with most of them becoming smash hits.
During his time, Radio aimed at raising the bar and it is to no shock that the BBC documented the late superstar’s legacy after he had passed. The very pinnacles the star always aimed at.